After the incident with Akari, I was once again feeling rather ticked off. Cassandra could tell very easily and followed meekly behind me.
She seemed ready to do anything in her power to cheer me up.
At the same time, I found it odd that no one knew that we had fought Akari.
Apparently, this was because Cassandra already thought about it.
She placed a haze over the entire city that drew everyone into a deep sleep. That way, none of them would come after us while we remained here.
Then my watch started beeping loudly.
Vakra had given us communicaton devices to wear for ease of contact.
I tapped the button on my watch and waited for it to pick up.
"Vakra? What's going on?" I asked.
"I just met that Cain fellow in person. I thought you should know," he said.
"He's in Elysium? Where!?"
"Calm down. He already left. He had a message for you."
"Start talking."
"He said: you've caused enough of an annoyance for these past few years. Since you killed my General, I'm calling in more backup to attack this world from multiple angles. If you want to save this world, you'd better hurry, you little shit."
You really didn't have to add the insult.
"Multiple angles...?" I said.
"He was talking about accelerating the infection of this world by trying to break through the animus barrier that surrounds the core of Delvandal. It sounds like he's getting desperate."
"So, did you try to kill him when he appeared?" I asked.
"If course I did. I wouldn't just stand there like an idiot. He's stronger than I anticipated. More so than what I can call on at this moment. You, however, might actually be able to kill him. I sensed that his power was vast. Similarly to yours."
"Do you know where he went?" I asked.
"Why would he tell me that, Mizik? If he needs time to take over the world, why would he just give himself away to me? Do you know how much of a stupid question that is!? NO, I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE WENT!" Vakra said angrily.
YOU COULD HAVE JUST SAID NO, YOU ASS!!!
"Regardless, I did get a strong reading on his energy signature. It's hard to pinpoint, but I should be able to track it, given some time. I will try to find an answer to your question...but no promises."
"Okay. We're heading back now, you boney asshole," I said.
* * *
After we returned to Elysium, we informed Vakra of what happened to Akari. He was happy to hear about her gruesome death, but very angry to hear that we might potentially encounter her again someday.
Fortunately for him, it would most likely not be his problem.
He also declined to give us the bounty for killing her. Stating that we hadn't brought the proof of her corpse, so we were disqualified based on the contract of the reward offered. Even if he believed us, he still wanted to save money. The cheap bastard...
At the same time, Iris returned to speak with her Enforcers.
She'd been discussing methods to strengthen them.
Since the Enforcers were incompatible with magic, Iris took three heart stones and modified them with her own power. The result was a new way of using heart stones and a method of shared strength between us.
Iris could strengthen them exponentially and I could transfer animus energy to them using my power.
It still had yet to be properly implemented, however. Iris mentioned that it could take a while for the testing to be completed.
Meanwhile, we began getting reports of contamination zones appearing in random places all over the world.
There were rumors of a massive black dragon with a terrifying smile.
Just the thought of seeing that abomination again filled me with rage. The shadow dragon was truly an infuriating enemy.
As we waited for Vakra to continue trying to pinpoint Cain's location, we had reports of a very large creature approaching us. When we looked, we found that Zangriol had freed himself from his mountain and flew all the way to Elysium. We went out to meet him.
He landed on the massive helipad sticking out of the side of Vakra's tower. The one that contained one of his laboratories.
"GREETINGS! I AM ZANGRIOL THE FROST DRAGON! WORLD DRAGON AND GUARDIAN OF DELVANDAL!" He roared.
"Hello again Zangriol, are you well?" Isabella said.
"I am, Lady Isabella. It is a pleasure to see all of you again."
"I'm glad to hear it. Is there a reason you've come to see us today?" Isabella asked.
"I wish to have words with the Purifier about the current state of the world. Mizik, please step forward."
I approached and looked up at him.
"What do you need to talk about?" I asked.
"It seems as though the Source has begun attempting to breach the animus barrier much more aggressively. He has called several of his allies in order to accomplish this. And there is also the matter of Kelvastiol."
"The shadow dragon. Originally, she was the water dragon in Avernia. She's an unbeatable monster for anything in this world, most likely," I said.
"Her strength is greater than before. Even I would have difficulty... She has become a monster. A diseased animal in need of execution... A member of our order cannot remain in such a form. It is abominable."
"Tell me about it... We succeeded in killing her on Ignitus, but Difar revived her before she could fully disappear. By now, she's likely made a complete recovery," I said.
Zangriol paused for a moment and seemed to be in deep thought.
After a minute passed, he looked back at me.
"I can hardly ask you to kill her again, but I may need your help fending her off. After all, the Source of this Corruption in our world is still much more of a threat. More of these...contaminated zones have been appearing as well. My cavern was invaded by these monsters and the false source himself visited me."
That was new... We hadn't heard of such a thing.
"Wait...Cain visited you?" I said in mild surprise.
I was actually expecting him to visit Zangriol at some point, anyway. I just didn't expect it to be so soon...
"The one who calls himself Cain offered me great power if I would allow myself to be infected. He said I would be an unstoppable force of pure destruction. I could never allow such a thing!"
"So you turned him down. How did he respond?" I asked.
"He simply said it was a shame. Then he left. World Dragons are deeply and intricately connected with the animus energy our worlds produce. We are not so easily infected. He would have to remove me from this world and sever my connection to the Creator in order to succeed at such a thing."
"Good. We're glad that you resisted him. Can we count on your help to hold back the shadow dragon?" I asked.
If dragons could smirk, Zangriol would have been doing just that.
"Purifier, you speak as if I did not already plan to do so. Have more faith in me! Delvandal is my assigned world. It is also my home that I love very much. Despite its flaws, it is a wonderful place to live with many different kinds of delicious animals to eat. I never grow tired of the taste of miasma... But yes, direct me and I will be a sword to strike down your enemies."
He just likes the food here, doesn't he? Whatever. He'll be useful...
"Then we'll be happy to count on you, Zangriol. Please, stay here as long as you like," Isabella said.
Zangriol nodded and I went to speak with Vakra, whom had decided to study the dragon.
"Fascinating! A world dragon! I knew of his existence, but I've never gone out to speak with him. Is he truly as wise as they all claim to be?" Vakra asked me.
"Probably. But I'm more curious about whether you've found any leads on Cain," I said.
"Hm. Of course you'd want to talk about that. You're so narrow-minded..." Vakra said.
"I have a job to do and helping you study dragons isn't part of it."
"Fine. You win. But the answer is no. I have not found anything of note. Rastair has contacted me about strange sights on Ripper Isle, but I can't be bothered to go look. That place is too far away for me to trouble myself with it..." Vakra said.
"Tell her to come to Elysium. And say that I need her help with something," I said.
"Umm...okay. But why?" Vakra said.
"Because I don't want her to get herself killed if the Corruption attacks Ripper Isle in full force," I said.
"Very well. If I get around to it..." Vakra paused for a moment as his skin came back and he regained his human appearance. "Ah...much better... If I get around to it, I'll contact her. I'll just say that you wanted her in bed or something," Vakra said.
"Don't do that! I won't have her harassing me because you gave her the wrong idea!"
"Kukuku... Okay...sure..." Vakra said.
I just sighed.
It wasn't like I could stop him or anything, but I didn't want that kind of relationship with Rastair.
"Just make sure she gets away from Ripper Isle," I said.
"I'll do that. Don't you worry..." Vakra said.
As I began walking away, a soldier ran into the lab. He looked panicked.
"S-SIR! ADMIRAL VAKRA!!! EMERGENCY!!!" He shouted.
"Oh...wonderful... What Is it this time?" Vakra said.
"THERE...THERE'S A CONTAMINATION ZONE JUST OUTSIDE THE CITY!!" The soldier shouted fearfully.
"Give me the location. Mizik, get on the Astrum and prepare for a fight. I'll join you in a short while with the others," Vakra said.
Do we finally get to see how strong you are?
Since the capital of Elysium was so large, I hadn't felt the presence of the Corruption due to being far away from it...but...
This could be serious.
If that contamination zone was allowed to run wild, it could end up like Albatross City.
Cain was likely trying to take out the most prominent defense this world had before it could do the same to him.
We quickly got ourselves ready and boarded the Astrum. After that, we made our way to the area that Vakra marked in the ship's navigation system.
* * *
As the Astrum made its way to the site of the forming contamination zone, I had a deep feeling of dread.
Then I felt the impending doom as well.
Is it really too much to ask that we have a bit more down time? We just got back from Lokan!
Isabella seemed to sense my uneasiness and gently hugged my arm.
"I'm here for you always, Mizik. I'll be a shield to protect you and as long as I live, you'll always be loved," she said sweetly.
Ugh...my heart...it's too cute... Oww...my head...
"Thank you... I..."
"No need to say it. I'll look forward to seeing you smile and hearing those words again when you're free from that curse. I'll make sure you have everything you need as well, Mizik."
"I'm looking forward to that day."
Suddenly, the ship stopped and we made our way to the lift bay.
It was time to start this war in earnest.